(Didrik Mešiček wrote the following review of a new album by the Faroese band Hamferð, which is being released today by Metal Blade Records.)
The Faroe Islands, a harsh archipelago, technically belonging to Denmark, with a population of roughly 54k people has 14 bands listed on Metal Archives. Ten of those are active and one of those is Hamferð, which is the band whose new release, Men Guðs hond er sterk, I’ll be covering in this article. The band has been around since 2008 and won the Wacken Metal Battle competition in 2012, after which they’ve released two full-length albums, with this being their third, which will come out on March 22nd on Metal Blade Records.
I can’t say I’ve been overly familiar with this band before and mostly only knew them by name, but what really drew me to this record immediately was the title. Men Guðs hond er sterk or, in English, “but God’s hand is strong”, is for some reason one of those phrases that automatically make me very intrigued, as it’s filled with promise and romance.
If we take into account the harshness of the Faroes, the phrase is so much more impactful, as life on the islands can truly be rough and, from what I’ve seen and been told, it truly feels as if you’re at the mercy of some sort of a god and its whims, whether on land or in a fishing boat not far off shore, a lesson captured in the tragic 1915 whaling event that inspired the record.
The album wastes no time with an intro and jumps straight into one of the pre-released singles, “Ábær,” a very strong opener to the record with heavy distortion and harsh vocals from Jón Aldará, who otherwise also fronts the Danish Iotunn. Despite the aggressive tone of the guitars and drums, the song is still very melodic and perhaps even meditative, while the musical patterns flirt with prog at times. Lyrically, the entire album is, of course, in the band’s native Faroese and that’s the only possible choice, as writing it in English would certainly make it lose a lot of its authenticity and impact.
Hamferð’s sound has an impressive feeling of fullness throughout the album, even when the band is softer and led by the vocals, like in the beginning of “Marrusorg,” a song that’s quite dreamy, almost like a lullaby at times, while the title actually translates to “nightmare grief.” “Glæman” continues similarly; it’s gentle but it hides a certain might within it and that brings me back to the phrase but God’s hand is strong – the title of the album. As calm as the ocean seems to be, it always has the potential to kill you almost instantly.
The band’s playing is incredibly polished and tight throughout the album and the production seems flawless. In “Í hamferð” the band plays with some black metal elements interestingly, and that’s very welcome after two softer songs as I’m finding I would have liked a bit more harsh vocals and overall a bit more death metal elements, as in the beginning of the record. While this is is a very good release, it can be said that it seems to get a bit lost in itself in the middle.
The penultimate track, “Hvølja,” however, starts with very deep, but slow growls. The band offsets the earlier softness with sorrowful anger and grief in this song and the music feels like a force pushing you down as the droning sound in the background combined with the slow, doomy drumming feels ominous and heavy.
The final and titular, “Men Guðs hond er sterk,” isn’t really a song but only features spoken words with acoustic guitar and the sound of the waves. It’s a recounting of that 1915 tragedy of men in boats and the cruelty of the sea as it sent furious waves towards them, drowning most, as discussed by one of the survivors in a 1958 radio interview. A sorrowful yet also hopeful reminder (because one of the whaling boats was saved) of exactly what this album is about – Guðs hond er sterk.
Hamferð’s third full-length is a hard-hitting album, but for the most part I don’t mean that in the conventional sense. It’s not an album that will make you unable to move your head the next day, but it is an emotional journey, it’s an album to put on for a long drive, and a band for which you’ll just stand there with your eyes closed, getting lost in their musical story-telling, as they play live. It’s also an album that takes several listens to really understand, but as with most good releases that’s time well spent as in the end this album rewards you and I can only describe it as beautiful.
LINEUP:
Remi Johannesen – drums
Theodor Kapnas – guitars
Esmar Joensen – keyboards
Jón Aldará – vocals
Jenus Í Trøðin – bass
Eyðun í Geil Hvannastein – guitars
http://www.facebook.com/Hamferd
https://hamferd.bandcamp.com/album/men-gu-s-hond-er-sterk